Landmark Steel City club brand Niche to return
NicheA renowned Sheffield nightclub which became synonymous with the birth of 'bassline' music is making a comeback.
Niche originally opened in a former cutlery warehouse on Sidney Street in 1992 and grew from an underground spot to become one of the most influential names in UK club culture.
A number of incidents involving drugs and violence culminated in greater police scrutiny and the original premises closed in 2005 after a large police raid. Despite several relocations across the city, Niche closed permanently in 2018 after more stabbings outside the club.
Now under new ownership, Niche is being developed as a contemporary music and cultural brand, with a new club night on 17 October.
Steve Baxendale, the former owner of Niche, passed away aged 67 in 2019. His wife Helen has now passed ownership of the brand to a new Sheffield-based team with previous experience in music, DJing and club promotion.
New operations director Drew Garber said they wanted to build the name into "Sheffield super-brand the city can be proud of".
"People care deeply about Niche and we know our responsibility is to keep that legacy in safe hands while giving the residents and artists who built it a home, and the next generation a genuine platform," he added.
Niche was part of a club scene in Sheffield in the 90s along with Gatecrasher One/Republic located nearby in a converted former steelworks warehouse, that transformed the city into a powerhouse for electronic music, rave culture, and super clubs drawing visitors from across the UK and abroad.
In its heyday, Niche's resident DJs like Jamie Duggan played speed garage and house with heavy low-end basslines and shuffling hi-hats , producing a sound that became known as 'bassline' or simply Niche.
Live sets recorded inside the club, known as the "Niche Tapes" were sold far beyond Sheffield, building a national audience and turning the name from a venue into a wider cultural brand.
The club did however begin to garner a reputation for violence and gang culture. Former manager Michael Baxendale, brother of former owner Steve, died after being stabbed outside the venue.
Four men were later jailed after their involvement in a mass brawl at the club after it moved to Walker Street near the Wicker. The club closed shortly afterwards.
Speaking to the BBC in 2014, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Broadbent said: "We needed to take some positive police action on a nightclub where guns had been seen and fired. Class A, serious illegal drugs had been seen, sold, used and supplied.
"Criminal gangs from Manchester, Leeds, Leicester and other cities were coming to the Niche to do their business. I'm not allowing that to happen in Sheffield."
New owner Fraser Rowlin acknowledged the club's past reputation but said the scene had "come a long way".
"Obviously, the history is there and it kind of blew up but we are 30 years on now.
"We have moved towards making sure clubs and events we put on are as safe as possible using every form of technology we can.
"The whole nature of that genre has changed. It's not as gritty and dark as it used to be. It's transcended that now."
The return of Niche begins with a night at Network Sheffield, which the owners described as a "homecoming".
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